Composition of Lower Cretaceous sandstones of the Galicia margin

The results show that the source of the Valanginian to Hauterivian sand was a continental block, dominated by granitic and/or high-grade-metamorphic rocks. Although these petrologic results do not allow discrimination between various potential continental block provinces, they suggest, in conjunction with seismic profiles and regional considerations, that the source was the Galicia margin or western Iberia.

In contrast, the Barremian and Aptian sand is dominated by carbonate grains that were derived from a carbonate platform, probably on Galicia Bank.